


Old Wounds

by adubbs47



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fluffy Olicity, Mild Language, OFBB2015, Olicity Fic Bang 2015, Tommy Lives AU, happens somewhere within early season three, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-08 10:26:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5493869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adubbs47/pseuds/adubbs47
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During one night on patrol, Thea and Oliver come face to face with a new Dark Archer who bears a striking resemblance to the original archer, but with a darker allegiance. With confirmation that Malcolm has not left Nanda Parbat the team soon realize that their new enemy is also one of their oldest friends: Tommy Merlyn. Now they must figure out who sent Tommy, and why, while helping Tommy remember who he really is before the city and those they love are placed in greater jeopardy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was one I always wanted to write. I wrote a similar one shot, but never was able to cover the depth of what I wanted to tell story wise. When I saw the OFBB notice go up I couldn't wait to write this. After a few rough patches, I finally was able to finish. Lots of thanks to my super awesome cheerleader, @the-silverforked-sky, and my amazing beta, @coffee-with-sunshine. You're both amazing! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!!

“That was fast.” 

Oliver eyed the coy smile dancing along Felicity’s face as she leaned back in her desk chair as she teased him. 

Oliver had just hurried down to the lair, after being held up in campaign meetings for the better part of the afternoon, to find Felicity already hard at work while Thea chose her arrows for the night’s patrol. Seeing as how Felicity was supposed to be late from work, he was caught off guard to see her already tracking police scanners. 

After he began having meetings around the clock and hadn’t been able to sneak away like they used to do – when he had been “lack of responsibility Ollie” as Thea liked to call him – he and Felicity had begun finding alternative ways to have fun with each other. 

Instead of sneaking out for lunch together they would send each other pictures of who had the least healthy meal. Most nights they would race to the lair to see who got there first, the loser often being the one to buy dinner or do other more enjoyable acts. 

Felicity had called him this afternoon with a last minute emergency with Curtis, which was code for one of them may end up blowing something up, and said she was going to be late to their night job. Oliver reminded her that forfeits didn’t count in their game, she would owe him tonight – and he had already eaten dinner. 

“I thought you were going to be late?” He did his best to keep the disappointment out of his voice, in the end neither of them really lost. 

Felicity shrugged before spinning back around in her chair. “Oh that? Curtis was able to figure it out without blowing up the entire top floor of the building, again.” 

“Did you ever think that maybe you shouldn’t engage in explosive activities in the Palmer Tech headquarters?” Thea asked from where she stood, examining each arrow with care. “Just a thought.” 

Oliver quirked his head to the side as Felicity stuck her tongue out at Thea. The teasing nature of their relationship had only recently begun. Though Thea and Felicity had formed a friendship of sorts while he was away as Al-Sahim, they hadn’t made the type of strides they had until Oliver and Felicity returned from Ivy Town. 

It was nice to see Felicity and Thea so familiar and close to each other. Like a family. 

“You should suit up,” Felicity told him, her work face on. “There’s not much chatter tonight, but those are usually the nights when a meta-human or formally dead nemesis of Oliver’s comes to town.” 

“Very funny.” He rolled his eyes before leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek, as she leaned towards him to receive. He paused his lips at the shell of her ear, letting a light breath of air coast along the sensitive spot he knew drove her crazy. 

“Don’t think I don’t know you cheated,” he whispered, alluding to her earlier phone call. 

Felicity pulled away slightly to meet his eyes, her pupils already dilating at the desire his actions caused. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she murmured, her eyes drifting to his lips. “But since you mention it, I did win … and I definitely didn’t have dinner.” 

Oliver saw what she was doing. She was playing with him and pushing all the right buttons. They both knew they couldn’t act at the moment, it was time to go to work. He leaned forward ready to claim her lips and admit temporary defeat when the sound of a throat clearing made both of them step away from each other. 

“I am still here.” Thea voiced, one hand covering her eyes while the other remained rooted on her hip. “And I have no interest in seeing whatever it is you two are about to do on the computers.” 

Standing up a little straighter Oliver moved away from Felicity and down the steps towards where Thea stood. A smirk graced her face as she tried to hold back her laughter. 

“You know, John made the no funny business in the lair rule for a reason.” 

He only shook his head and proceeded to pull his hood and pants from its case with one last look at Felicity over his shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed and she held that twinkle in her eyes she always had when they were together. They would just have to wait until later to continue. He could be patient.

~~~

“You two be careful out there tonight.” Felicity’s voice echoed through the comm-link in Thea’s ear in a tone that was reminiscent of a mother speaking to her child. “I haven’t heard anything since the last guy you picked up.”

While Thea didn’t want to admit that the quiet bothered her as much as it did Oliver and Felicity, she was starting to become unnerved with just how few calls the police were getting. The team had been taking shifts so as not to burn out with the constant onslaught of Damien Darhk’s ghosts. Two of them would pair up, rotating each night with Felicity at the computers. 

Oliver would normally go to the lair anyway with Felicity and train or sit patiently as she directed whoever was out in the field that night. Some nights all four would go out, depending on the severity. The downward trend in activity was becoming something they couldn’t avoid or overlook. 

It was almost as if the ghosts were disappearing. Even the threats from Damien were slowing down. Captain Lance had been contacted less and less by Darhk, until almost a month had passed without contact. 

They all knew it wasn’t good. It definitely wasn’t good. Thea on the other hand, welcomed the calm. 

“Yes, mom,” Thea responded with a roll of her eyes. 

Oliver remained silent on his end, two rooftops over. 

"I'm serious, Speedy, there’s been a lull in the chatter and my hacker senses aren’t sensing anything good.” Felicity’s voice was concerned and Thea could practically hear the hacker furrow her eyebrows in thought. It was as if she could actually sense something dark and treacherous lurking around the corner, with a well ordered algorithm. 

“You’re ‘hacker senses?’” Thea guffawed from her perch. “Seriously, Felicity? And for the last time it’s Red Arrow.” 

The hardest part of joining the team was their lack of interest in her choosing her own code name. The jumping off of rooftops, hand to hand combat, and motorcycle rides through a hail of gunfire was a walk in the park compared to the team’s reluctance to call her by a better nickname than “Speedy.” 

“Spoken like a true younger sibling, Speedy,” Oliver’s voice cut in. “Felicity’s right, it’s almost too quiet.” 

Thea glanced across the rooftop at her brother whose eyes were hidden beneath the thick greasepaint and mask similar to her own. Even so, she could still feel his eyes on her. “So should we call it a night?” 

She saw the barely visible shake of his head. Of course they weren’t calling it a night. They all knew too well how fast an easy night on patrol could turn into Ghost men ravaging the city. 

“You stay here,” Oliver told her through the comm-link. “I’ll go check out the warehouse district.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Felicity’s voice cut through the comms in their ears. “I thought the point of hero rotation was to stay together when you surveil the city? Or was I the only one paying attention during last week’s staff meeting.” 

“We’ll be fine.” Oliver’s voice was clear through the comms and Thea didn’t need to be told twice. “Besides, I’m not going that far.” 

It was nauseating to be on patrol with the two of them which she knew well from experience. John and Laurel both agreed. They were all cuddles and terms of endearments in the lair, but once they got into the field, they were all business. They were a team within the team.

“Well then, if you are so sure, Speedy can follow after you in a few minutes,” Felicity’s voice was also clear and very set on the other end. 

Thea could almost see her brother roll his eyes. 

“Oh, will she now?” Thea asked, keeping her laugh to herself as Oliver gave in to his girlfriend. 

Even when they disagreed they kept the mission first. 

The flash of green out of the corner of her eyes alerted her to Oliver’s swift departure from the roof and Felicity’s voice chattering away in her ear. Well, not so much chattering as a slightly more muted version of her loud voice. 

“He put me on mute!” Thea heard Felicity’s (very loud) dismay and could practically see her friend’s face turn red in frustration. 

“What is going on with you two anyway?” Thea asked as she turned away from the ledge on which she sat, jumping to the graveled rooftop below. “You were all cute and playful in the lair. Which completely grossed me out, by the way.” 

“I just have a bad feeling,” Felicity huffed on her end of the comms. “Things have been too quiet lately and it’s just tonight feels different. I don’t think you should separate.” 

Thea nodded her head at Felicity’s reasoning, as she found a lawn chair long ago abandoned. At least that was what she figured from the look of it – all frayed with holes in the fabric. 

“Ok, so you have a bad feeling,” Thea reiterated as she relaxed into the chair. “That doesn’t mean something bad is going to happen tonight. Maybe your bad feeling is Palmer Tech related.” 

“No, it’s not. It’s …. we’ve been fighting something horrible in this city for so long, it almost feels empty now,” Felicity admitted, defeat lining her tone. “And, not to mention Darhk’s vanishing act, which is all kinds of creepy and eerie, and complete supervillain territory. I half expect him to pop out of any corner with a cigar or something.” 

“A cigar?” Thea sat forward with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure we need to stop watching those old movies, or at least have a review of all the criminals you, Ollie, and Dig took down. Maybe we could add some statistics about how many of them had cigars and sprung out of corners.” 

“Codenames, Speedy,” Felicity chastised, but Thea only laughed in response. 

Thea wanted to calm her friend. She wanted Felicity to be more at ease with the calm streets and the lower crime rate. It meant what they were doing was working. Sure, Damien Darhk and his ghosts leaving the city wasn’t the most comforting thought. Especially when he had been coming at them full force for months. 

But Thea also knew that when Felicity got her mind onto something, she was hardly ever wrong. She also never let it go. 

Thea knew to take Felicity Smoak seriously. 

Then a sigh came on the other end of the comm link, making Thea inch forward in her seat. “Do you remember that Brother Eye computer virus that shut down most of the power in the city?” 

“Vaguely.” Thea tried to think back a couple villains ago. There had been too many to keep track of them all. “Did he have a cigar?” Thea snorted a laugh at the thought. 

“You’re hysterical,” Felicity deadpanned on the other end. “My ex, Cooper, was Brother Eye, and when Brother Eye started making cyber-attacks on the city, we had no clue it was him.” 

“Ok, I’m not making the connection.” Thea tried to put the pieces together of their conversation, but just couldn’t. “Isn’t that the ex-boyfriend who is locked up tight in Iron Heights?” 

“Yeah, he is,” Felicity told her. “My point is, even after we figured out he was using my super virus, we still got blindsided by him.” 

“You’re comparing not knowing your ex, who you thought was dead and was using a super virus to demolish a city to Damien Darhk, who is alive and going into hiding?” Thea spoke slowly hoping she could make the connection. 

“I know they are different, Thea,” Felicity blundered.

Thea smirked at the woman who was on the other side of town. “Codename, Felicity.” 

Thea leaned forward, thinking over Felicity’s concerns. Sure, the situations were completely different. Damien Darhk was still alive, they knew he was alive, and they knew he was up to no good wherever he was. The threat was still active. Cooper had been “dead.” Or at least Felicity had thought he was dead. 

Knowing what she knew now about the world they all lived in, Thea knew that dead or alive, anyone could come back and make a big enough mess. 

“But, we know Darhk is out there, and we can be prepared for him this time.” Thea hoped her words were comforting. 

“Not if people keep going off on their own when their girlfriend has a bad feeling,” Felicity filled in. “Oh god, Curtis is calling.” 

Another deep sigh came over the line and Thea imagined the amount of pressure Felicity felt every day. Running a company as big as Palmer Tech without the full support of the board and also running Team Arrow had to be draining. No wonder Felicity was anxious. Thea felt the urge to hug the other woman well up inside of her. 

“I have to answer this in case that stupid ball really did blow up the building.” 

“Wait. Ball?” Thea couldn’t help the intrigue. None of them really knew what big project Felicity and Curtis would use to save the company, but a ball was something new. 

“It’s a long story. Which, I will tell you later after I talk to my associate.” 

“Hey Felicity,” Thea called out before Felicity could switch her attention, not able to resist one last joke with her (hopefully) future sister-in-law. “You do realize that when the company was run by Queens it was never blown up.” 

She could practically hear Felicity snort on the other end. “Oh, Speedy. There are so many retorts I could give back.” 

“You’re doing a good job.” Thea felt a weight hit her. Maybe Felicity’s bad feeling was contagious. “With both jobs. We’ll figure all this Darhk stuff out.” 

“Thank you, _Red Arrow_.” Thea smiled as Felicity chuckled over the comm-link before her ear filled with notable silence. 

Thea wasn’t sure how she felt about this recent development, or even if she should feel a certain way. She and Felicity had been growing closer, but the team was still a work in progress. They worked together fine, each person playing to their strengths, but they still struggled. Learning how to work with anyone new was an adjustment. 

She wondered if Felicity had shared her bad feelings with anyone outside of the Queen family. With John and Oliver’s joint experiences, the bad feelings and the quiet nights could be something they could use to prepare more. 

”Hey Speedy,” Oliver’s voice popped back up suddenly. 

Thea shook her head and the sudden timbre of his voice. “Yes, brother dearest.” 

“Warehouse district looks quiet from where I’m at.” Oliver’s voice was calm, but now she heard a slight edge in it she must have missed earlier. “What do you have?” 

They really were in sync. Thea rolled her eyes once more at her brother’s tone of voice before moving from her chair and back to the ledge. 

“I’m heading your direction now.” 

She had work to do, she thought to herself before taking a deep breath and diving off of the roof while simultaneously shooting a grappling arrow into the building next to her.

~~~

Her brother was different ever since he started dating Felicity. Calmer, maybe. More centered, definitely.

It was easy to see the influence the quirky former IT expert, now CEO, had on her brother. 

For a while after they came back from Ivy Town, Thea had a hard time coping with Oliver’s presence and big brother concerned persona. She had been used to fending for herself and riding on the high of becoming her own hero. 

Oliver’s protective nature didn’t fit into what she envisioned for herself, even though she loved her big brother. He made sense when he talked to her about her behavior being reckless, and the Pit having consequences they may not fully understand. Oliver was using a logic none of them could grasp. He saw the things the Pit could do, and what others were capable of, long before meta-humans and particle accelerators. 

But she pushed him and, in extension, Felicity away for a long time. She used them for their resources and collaborated like a partner would, but didn’t really treat them like family. Not for a while. They tried to break in, to make nice and be a family, but Thea was too resistant – too stubborn. 

Even now, as she walked precariously along the edge of an eight story building, arms held out as though she were walking a tightrope, she felt a resistance to their coddling. She was sure if Oliver had been present, he would have been yelling at her to get off of the ledge and to be careful. 

He had gotten better over the course of the past few months, but he was still her big brother. 

"Speedy,” Oliver’s voice cut in over the previously silent comm-link still in her ear. “I’m heading back in your direction.” 

Thea steadied herself along the wall and nodded, pausing to glance out over the Glades below her. 

“Well, it’s all quiet on my side of town,” she told him while she contemplated her ability to land on the fire escape below. 

“I’m about a block away from you now.” 

She nodded along, figuring he would head in the direction.

One method John taught her while Oliver was away, was to sweep the whole area before moving again. While Oliver worked his way to her, block by block, she did the same. She observed the surrounding buildings and streets, combing through for any disturbances, before moving on. 

“You mean like you were supposed to be half an hour ago, right?” She taunted. 

She didn’t fault him for going on his own first. She didn’t mind working alone, no matter the gut feeling Felicity and Oliver had. Oliver was probably thinking he was protecting her by heading to the warehouse district, the more dangerous part of patrols, alone. 

That didn’t mean she wouldn’t tease him about it either. 

“Hey Speedy?” Felicity’s voice spoke up over the sound of the comm in question. “You might want to rethink that jump.” 

Thea paused, eyes swinging round about her. Of course Felicity knew what she was doing. The woman was as close to a psychic as they came, but this was a little much. 

Thea turned back to the street and saw the disguised camera on the telephone pole across the street. She bit back the urge to roll her eyes, and gave a wave and a nod at the camera. 

“Just looking out for you, Speedy.” 

Thea once again bit back the urge to roll her eyes. “So did the building blow up again?” 

The only sounds Thea heard was the soft laughter as Felicity began to scan both Thea’s neighborhood and Oliver’s route. 

She had to admit, Felicity was good. 

As Thea turned the corner, heeding Felicity’s words, she heard the rustle of gravel only seconds before she felt a strong grip close around her throat. 

Thea felt herself being jerked back, off the ledge and onto the graveled roof top, before she could blink or see who was pulling her down in such a rough manner. 

If she had to guess, she figured she was safe to assume it wasn’t anyone friendly. 

Thea felt the scrape of the rough terrain against her leather clad back and thanked the maker of her suite that her mask stayed in place even though the hood began to slip. She kicked her legs in hopes of throwing her assailant off balance enough to work her way free from their hold. 

Judging from the angle at which he held her and the feel of his hands around her neck she figured it was safe to assume whoever her assailant was, was much stronger than her. 

“Speedy?” It was getting hard to breath now, but she heard Oliver in her ear. His urgent tone led her to believe that he was hearing her over the comms while Felicity could see her. “Speedy!?” 

She couldn’t let her brother hear this. She couldn’t let him see her lifeless body, again. Not when she knew she was strong enough to at least get away from her attacker. 

Thea kicked once more, this time throwing as much of her weight as she could while managing to effectively flip the person above her off balance. As soon as he shifted his weight Thea pounced, both arms swinging wide and hard enough to hit his knees. 

With a grunt of pain and what Thea imagined to be shock, the attacker loosened his hold enough for her to twist and jump to her feet. The oxygen loss made her sway slightly, but she managed to regain her footing, swallowing down a cough as she did. 

As she raised her eyes to glimpse a full view of her attacker as he righted himself, she hadn’t expected the person before her. 

The familiar black robes of the League stuck out most prominently, but it was the quiver on his back, and the way he presented himself as he reach his full height, that caused an unwanted shiver to race up her spine. 

Before her stood the Dark Archer. 

“Malcolm?” Her voice sounded rough from the strain on her throat. 

The man across from her didn’t respond, only squinted at the name. It was as if the name she uttered was unrecognizable and he didn’t understand her mistake. He didn’t know why she was calling him by her father’s name, because the man in front of her was not her father. 

This Dark Archer was not the Dark Archer they knew, the one her brother faced. This person who attacked her was not her father. 

But there was something familiar. It was as if she knew him. 

Before Thea could motion, or respond to the urgent voices in her ear, the archer across from her drew back his bow and notched a black arrow before she could blink. 

Thea barely had time to throw herself to the ground when he let the arrow loose. She expected the pain, the blood, and probably more screaming in her ear, but it never came. Well, the screaming did, but the arrow never hit her. 

She flipped her hood off of her head as she twisted in time to see the other archer zip over top of her and off of the roof before disappearing into the streets below.

~~~

“What the hell was that?” Thea winced as she bounded down the steps into the new lair.

Oliver was already waiting at the base of the steps, mask and greasepaint gone, but still suited up. Felicity stood next to him with arms crossed and a gaze riddled with concern. They were always concerned about her these days. 

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Thea remarked as she moved to hang her bow in its case. “Whoever that was, he was fast and good.” 

She heard Felicity suck in a breath and Oliver take a step closer to her. 

“Are you ok?” His words were pointed and direct, but she also heard the note of fear. It was the big brother protective streak she had grown accustomed to hearing each time they went out. 

Thea turned on her heel, preparing the patented Queen family “I’m ok” look. The look that was clearly a lie and meant to reassure the other person. All Queens knew how to do it in the face of conflict, paparazzi, or any real emotion. 

She had learned from the best, Moira Queen, through years of “I’m ok” looks when asked how she felt about her husband and son being lost at sea, how she felt about Queen Consolidated needing new leadership, how she felt about her son being found at sea, and the list just kept rolling on. Her mother was a master at faking it, and Thea was always granted a front row seat. 

But as soon as Oliver caught her glance, she folded. Oliver was the exception to her “I’m ok” look. 

“He was strong.” She rubbed her neck as she spoke, remembering the feel of the other person’s hands wrapped around her throat. The urge to breath and the feeling of terror clawing at the back of her mind. “And, caught me off guard.” 

Felicity walked away from the siblings swiftly before planting herself in front of her computer. “I’ve been looking at the feed, but there is no angle that shows me any clue as to who he is.” 

“Are you sure it was a ‘he?’” Oliver asked, quirking his head. 

They knew women from the League. They knew what any member of Malcolm’s new army was capable of. 

“He definitely wasn’t a woman,” Thea told him earnestly. “He didn’t move like a woman, and he definitely didn’t sound like a woman when I knocked him off balance.” 

 

Oliver nodded, knowing well enough what the outfit meant, and that the League had more than enough female warriors, too. It wasn’t a far reach. 

“Why would someone in the League attack?” Felicity mused without taking her eyes off of the screen in front of her. 

Thea moved towards the computer to see the screenshot herself. She saw the taller man with his gloved hands wrapped around her neck, causing her to reach for the spots she was sure would be bruised by tomorrow, before glancing down at Felicity. It was definitely League attire. 

“Why would someone in the League attack Thea, is the better question?” Oliver motioned, his hand moving to scrub his face. 

“That is a pretty ballsy move for a League member to do, especially since you are now the Heir to the Demon,” Felicity murmured. “A stupid, ballsy move.” 

“It wasn’t an ordinary League member,” Thea told them both, crossing her arms and turning away from the screen. “I can’t explain it, but he was different. More like Malcolm.” 

“Was he wearing a hideous ring and a smug ‘I won’ kind of smile?” Felicity chirped, turning to eye both Queens. “Sorry.” 

“He just … felt like Malcolm.” 

Oliver didn’t respond, and neither did Felicity this time. Instead they did the most aggravating thing ever, the one move that grated on Thea’s nerves to no end. They turned to look at each other and seemed to communicate nonverbally. 

She knew they weren’t really talking, but the way they did it, was like they were having a secret conversation with their eyes. It had started probably long before they left, but only increased once they returned to Star City. They were so in tune with each other. 

“Why don’t we reach out to some of our contacts and just make sure it wasn’t,” Oliver suggested, even though Thea moved to object. “I’m not saying it was him, but maybe he sent someone and they went off book.” 

“Who would we be contacting?” Thea asked with a hint of sarcasm. They couldn’t just dial Malcolm up on speed dial these days, not that any of them wanted to.

“Felicity?” Oliver seemed to add on more to his questioning tone, which had Felicity spin around in her chair before her fingers danced rapidly along the keyboard. 

“I’m on it.” 

Thea rolled her eyes. At least they were back on the same wavelength from earlier. That was something. Annoyingly adorable, but something. She let out a huff of air as she noticed her brother begin to move towards the glass case, which normally housed his suit. 

“Where are you going?” Thea asked his retreating form. 

“I’m going to finish the patrol in street clothes,” he told her as he grabbed his gym bag and headed to the bathroom to change. 

Thea turned to Felicity who had paused to glance at Thea. At having been caught, Felicity spun back around and started typing again. 

She didn’t know where her brother was going, but it definitely was not to patrol. 

~~~

Oliver sat with both hands clasped around a white mug of steaming coffee, eyes staring off at the crowd of teenagers who were entering the small diner. His breath caught in his lungs as he tried to imagine Thea with a group of kids like that. Had she had friends and hung out in diners while he had been away? Had she had any semblance of a normal life before he came back? 

He understood now that he was not responsible for the darkness of the city. He wasn’t the reason so many people suffered each night, including his own family. Diggle, Laurel, Sara, Thea, and Felicity, all suffered with him each time he put on the hood and went out. Not to mention those they had lost along the way. 

Even tonight, he had to remind himself that Thea’s attack was not his fault. He hadn’t known that anyone would go after his sister when he left her alone on that rooftop. He couldn’t have. It was still hard for him to admit that his sister had chosen this life. He couldn’t protect her from everything. 

“Hey.” Oliver looked up with a smile as Laurel sat in the chair across from him, suspicion and worry etching her brow. “Everything ok? You sounded, I don’t know, not yourself on the phone.” 

Oliver nodded, eyes finding the steady flow of steam rising from his mug. Was everything ok? 

“Thea was attacked tonight,” Oliver told Laurel, raising his eyes to watch her shift in her seat, the questions he knew she wanted to ask on the tip of her tongue. “She’s fine.” 

Oliver held both hands up to calm her. Laurel sat back, but the concern hadn’t left her eyes. 

“She’s ok, just a little bruised,” he repeated, not sure if he meant it for Laurel or himself. “She and Felicity are trying to dig up as much information as they can on who it might have been.” 

“Do you have any leads?” Laurel breathed out, stiff in her seat. 

Oliver glanced down at his mug once more. “The person was dressed like a member of the League.” Laurel tipped her head in confusion. “Which we all know is crazy because Malcolm, for all his many, many faults, would not try to kill his own daughter.” 

“He killed his son,” Laurel muttered as she crossed her arms across her chest. “I assume you have Felicity reaching out to try and make contact with Nyssa, so I’m guessing you don’t need me for that.” 

Oliver shook his head. “No, I wanted to ask you about Sara.” 

Laurel tilted her head once more, trying to get a read on Oliver. “Why Sara?” 

“Felicity is trying to reach out to Nyssa, but we both know that she may not respond,” he paused, wincing on his words. “None of us are exactly her favorite people.” 

“We got Sara back.” Laurel’s voice was succinct and controlled, but he could tell she still remembered the fear at having almost lost her sister, again.   
He aimed his gaze at her, hoping she caught on to what he needed. 

“You want Sara to reach out to Nyssa.” Laurel’s eyes grew. “Are you insane? The last time Nyssa saw Sara she thought bringing her back was a mistake.” 

“Because it was.” He tried to keep his voice low. “It was a mistake, and if we hadn’t been able to get John to come help, Sara would still be without her soul or dead.” 

Oliver shook his head as Laurel looked away from him. “I’m not trying to fight. I’m just here to ask for Sara’s help. For Thea.” 

“I can call her and see if she’s had any contact with Nyssa.” Oliver watched her pause. “But I can’t guarantee anything. Central City has been good for her, Ollie.” 

“Have they talked at all?” 

“The last time we saw Nyssa she was being carried away by League guards at Malcolm’s orders,” Laurel told him with a frown. “We don’t even know if she’s still alive.” 

“She is,” Oliver told her, lowering his voice as another group of teenagers entered the diner in excitement. “How we know that is not important. She’s our best chance of finding out if Malcolm really sent this person to attack Thea.” 

Laurel shook her head. “How do you know she’s able to communicate, or even that she got out?” 

“Because, I have friends all over the world, and one of them was able to get Nyssa out.” He stopped her as she began to object. “Trust me on this. I’ll fill you in on all the details once we figure out if it is the League after Thea.” 

Laurel sat back as she let his words sink in. “Even if I believe you and Nyssa is out, how do you know she would be able to tell you if it was the League?” 

“She’s with a friend,” Oliver told her, glancing around the room. “And she may not know, but she is our best option save for going to Nanda Parbat ourselves.” 

Laurel seemed to study his gaze and his expression before letting loose a breath. 

“I’ll ask Sara,” Laurel told him, a small smile of comfort lifting her lips. “For Thea.” 

Oliver smiled back, finally feeling slight relief at knowing he wasn’t just sitting around waiting anymore. Even if he wasn’t the one digging for information, he was doing something. 

While Laurel ordered a cup of coffee for herself, neither Oliver nor Laurel realized they were being watched. 

Unbeknownst to them, the heated glare of Thea’s attacker locked eyes on the pair, before fading back into the shadows across the street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the response to this story. I've enjoyed reading through everyone's comments and seeing the kudos and bookmarks pop up. I'm so glad others are enjoying this alternate universe I'm building for the Olicity Fic Bang. 
> 
> Another huge thank you to my super awesome and amazing beta, @coffee-with-sunshine. There is artwork to this story, but I don't know how to add it on AO3. Please take a look on over at my tumbler page for this story to see the awesome work by @sharingmyworld. Thank you to my cheerleader who has been an awesome help throughout the story process, @the-silverforked-sky. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy part 2. Part 3 will be up next Tuesday if not sooner.

“You know, you two are extremely annoying when you act like this,” Thea mused from where she sat, leaning back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. 

Felicity had been typing at her computer for at least two hours now and hadn't said a word since Oliver left. Even though the group as a whole acted as a democracy, Oliver and Felicity served as their own unit. Their own subset of the group. If Oliver asked, Felicity did, and vice versa. If you wanted to win an argument, it was easier to get the two of them on the same side. 

Felicity spun in her chair to face Thea. “What do you mean? We’re not annoying.” 

Thea laughed before letting her feet fall to the floor, arms crossed across her chest. 

“You and Oliver.” Thea shifted her gaze, as if Felicity should have already known what Thea meant. “You two just follow each other without blinking.” 

Felicity blinked, sitting back in her own chair. “I think that’s a little severe.” 

“You two had a whole conversation without even opening your mouths,” Thea told her, her smile the only reason Felicity knew her younger friend wasn’t offended, but amused. “Then he just walks off, clearly not going on patrol, and you’re just like ‘ok, Oliver, go do whatever.’” 

“That doesn’t mean I don’t question Oliver, or that he doesn’t question me,” Felicity told Thea seriously. “Just because we support each other doesn’t mean we agree on everything.” 

Thea leaned forward, wondering if she could test that theory. “So you’re saying you aren’t even the slightest bit curious as to where Oliver went just now.” 

Felicity shook her head, not taking the bait. “I know where he went.” 

Thea laughed in challenge. “Ok, then where?” 

“He probably went to investigate our newest problem. He will most likely stop by the rooftop where you were attacked and retrace our steps and the attackers.” Felicity shrugged. “Or he would have started off by talking to someone who could give him more information on how to contact Nyssa, if my avenues didn’t work out. Probably Laurel, Sara, or John.” 

“John sent me a text message asking if I was ok and telling me he was already looking into his A.R.G.U.S. contacts,” Thea teased. 

“So then Laurel.” Felicity shrugged. “Your brother is kind of predictable when he is overprotective. I’m sure archery practice is on the agenda as well.” 

Thea turned to look at the case where her brother’s green suit hung. She wondered how Felicity knew so much of her brother, when to Thea he was still a mystery. Thea knew so little of his time away, yet Felicity shouldered each new revelation with unwavering strength. 

Felicity knew Oliver, and better yet, understood Oliver. 

“But we are not working the same avenue Oliver is.” Felicity turned back to Thea. “We are looking for your mystery man and placing a long distance phone call to someone who probably will not respond.” 

Thea cringed at Felicity’s use of words. 

“Mystery man? Sounds like a date,” Thea blanched. “That just makes me feel disgusted, seeing as how the guy who attacked me looked an awful lot like Malcolm.” 

Felicity waved her off before turning back to the computers. “Anyone could be anyone in those League uniforms.” 

“So you’re saying it should be less creepy that I was attacked by someone dressed as my biological father?” 

Felicity seemed to think on Thea’s point before conceding to the younger Queen. “Point taken.” 

“Thank you for helping me,” Thea murmured as she watched Felicity’s fingers type across the keyboard. It was almost like a dance. 

Felicity shrugged her shoulders before turning to give Thea a wink. “We’re family.”

~~~

“I should head back,” he spoke as he stared into his coffee mug. 

It felt odd to be sitting in a coffee shop with Laurel, asking her for help, when just one year prior they had practically been at each other’s throats. Last month, even, had been filled with tension and unease. 

But they were trying to accept each other, or at least the new versions of each other. They were starting to work together as a team. 

“I’ll go in with you,” she supplied while sending a text message on her phone. “Do you need me to call John?” 

Oliver shook his head having already informed Diggle what was going on. Once Lyla came home and baby Sara was asleep, he would also head over to the lair. He was doing what he could on his end, while being there for his family, which was something Oliver admired about John. 

“Do you two need a refill?” 

Oliver had only just turned to respond when he heard the tell-tale sound of an arrow shattering the glass of the main window, before embedding itself into the chest of the waiter in front of them. 

He and Laurel barely had a second to react before more arrows were whizzing in their direction. Oliver managed to flip the table on its end, while Laurel struggled to pull the injured waiter behind the makeshift shelter. 

His eyes glanced in every direction. Panicked high school students were crowded behind the set of booths on the back wall, while the other employees, three maybe, were crouched low behind the counter. The sounds of screaming and sobbing echoed through the room as more arrows steadily found their way into the building. 

“We have to do something!” Laurel cried out over the sounds around them. 

Her hands were bloody from trying to stem the bleeding, but Oliver knew just as well as she, the waiter didn’t stand much of a chance. He most likely died the moment the arrow pierced his chest. 

Oliver looked over to the teenagers at the back wall and saw the small alcove, which in most establishments meant the kitchen or the bathroom. If they could usher everyone out of the building, or at least out of the line of fire, then he and Laurel could find out who was firing at them. 

“Ollie,” Laurel called out, gaining his attention. “Black arrows.” 

Oliver looked to the arrow in the man’s chest, before looking to the three arrows embedded in the chair near Laurel. They were all black, and if he had to guess, just like the arrows Malcolm used to use. They would have to take one for Felicity to search, but he would place money on them being related to “Sagittarius.”

But they didn’t have time to think of that just then. 

“Follow me,” he mouthed to her before gesturing with a nod of his head towards the back room. 

As he moved, in a crouched position, he heard more arrows fly past his head, narrowly missing in their target. He was sure the kids saw him, but their hesitation could cost him and Laurel their lives as both ran full throttle at the teens. He wasn’t going to leave them behind, but they needed to move. He was vaguely aware of yelling to them to “move” and “run.” 

Then one teen did move, directing the others to follow. He couldn’t breathe yet, though, they still had to get out of there. 

He saw Laurel duck behind the counter to check on the employees, while he herded the teens to the alcove. Both heroes turned to glance at each other, just as the arrows stopped.

~~~

John Diggle had just put his daughter down to sleep, had kissed her soft baby hair, had tucked her favorite stuffed animal (this week, at least) under her arms, and had wished her “sweet dreams.” He had just completed his favorite night time ritual, time spent with his daughter, when his cell phone rang. 

The appearance of Felicity’s face popping up on his caller ID would not be unwelcome, if it wasn’t for the feeling of dread that cropped up in his gut. He already knew about Thea’s run in earlier that night. A call this late on his night off only meant one of two things; one, Oliver finally proposed, or two, Team Arrow needed reinforcements, as soon as possible. 

With Damien Darhk going underground only weeks prior, they had all been hyper vigilant. Captain Lance even said that he hadn’t any new information from the overlord. It made them all nervous knowing that the sinister force they had been fighting against was lying in wait for them, ready to strike at any moment. 

“What do we got?” Diggle demanded as he tossed his leather jacket onto one of the railings of Felicity’s work station. 

“Arrows.” Felicity’s answer was succinct, but at Diggle’s beat continued. “Sorry, everyone usually tunes out when I talk about the specifics.” Diggle rolled his eyes with a smirk. “We have teflon coated titanium blades, serrated, didn’t want to leave out that little nugget of information. The shaft is a specialized polymer from what I can tell. And I bet everyone can tell me where we’ve seen these specially designed arrows before.” 

Oliver spoke up from where Thea was bandaging a cut on his arm. “They are Merlyn’s arrows.” 

“We have a winner,” Felicity cheered with faux enthusiasm. 

“But why would Malcolm attack Thea?” Laurel asked, arms folded over her chest. “Us I get, but not Thea.” 

“We aren’t one hundred percent sure it was Malcolm.” Thea spoke up this time, stepping away from Oliver and towards the group. “Like, maybe eighty.” 

“We’re still waiting on more information to come in, but from our source, Malcolm hasn’t left Nanda Parbat since the last field trip the team took,” Felicity added. 

"You got in touch with her?” Laurel asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stepped towards Felicity before she shifted her focus to Oliver. “I thought you didn’t think she would respond.” 

“I didn’t,” Oliver supplied, just as shocked as her. “That was fast.” 

Felicity gave them both a sympathetic frown, one meant to soften the eventual blow. 

“Nyssa didn’t want us beating down every door to get in touch with her,” Felicity filled in. “Once Tatsu relayed the message, I’m assuming they went back underground.” 

“But … Sara?” Laurel seemed heartbroken for her sister, and like she genuinely missed her friend. 

Felicity leaned forward in her seat, shifting in discomfort at the line of questioning. Diggle imagined that whoever Felicity talked to, whether it be Nyssa or Tatsu, told Felicity more than what she wanted to relay back to the team. 

She settled instead by saying, “Nyssa knows about Sara, and right now, it’s too dangerous.” 

Diggle leaned against the rail at the information Felicity and Thea produced. He wondered briefly how Laurel was dragged into this, if it was her night off too. But that thought was drowned out as he caught sight of the pictured displayed on the large screen beside Felicity’s shoulder. 

They looked like security photos, black and white with a hint of blurred movement. He could see Thea on her back and the archer ready to strike. Diggle had to agree that the person in that snapshot looked identical to Merlyn’s Dark Archer persona. 

“So who is this archer?” he asked.

Felicity spun in her chair to face her computers, typing out a code before a set of security camera images popped up on the screen. “No clue, but I’m assuming he’s still out there.” 

“And aiming for Queens,” Thea snorted. 

“Team Arrow members to be precise,” Felicity spoke up, bringing another set of images to the screen. The images seemed like a CGI reenactment of the attack on the diner. “Judging by the targets the arrows took, he was aiming for both Laurel and Oliver. Either he’s a really crappy archer, or he is very good. Those arrows could have pierced bone.” 

“He killed the waiter.” Laurel’s voice was small as she kept her eyes on the reenactment. 

“Whoever this guy is, he’s dangerous,” Oliver provided. “Just because we’re the main targets doesn’t mean he won’t hurt anyone else.” 

“It seems like collateral damage isn’t weighing on his conscience,” Diggle directed to Oliver who only nodded in return. 

The team stared at the images on the screen for a beat longer, eyeing how close they had been to having a larger number of deaths on their hands. One was already too many, but those kids and employees had been in harm’s way because of them. It was a very sobering reality. Laurel started beside them as a humming noise brought them back to reality. 

“It’s my dad,” Laurel stated as she glanced at the cell phone message. “He has nothing from the security feed or the traffic cameras.” 

“I could have told you that,” Felicity murmured, bringing up the numerous camera feeds to another screen. “After his run in with Thea he hasn’t popped up on any of our facial recognition software. He’s like a ghost.” 

“Do you think he works for Darhk?” Diggle asked the question they must have all been thinking. Next to Merlyn, Darhk would have been his next guess. 

“It’s a reasonable question.” Oliver’s gaze was fixed on Felicity’s monitor where the earlier picture was still displayed. “Darhk was trained by the League. He would know what they wore and how they act.” 

“But everything he is doing is pointing us at Merlyn.” 

Which begged the question, what was really going on? And who was really attacking them?

~~~

Oliver watched as Felicity practically flew from monitor to monitor, the wheels of her chair spinning rapidly, as she moved from task to task. He wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to be inside her head, to have the comprehension she had. There was no doubt that she was the brain, and heart, of the team – at least to him, anyway. 

Even with the threat of the new archer out there on the streets, and the sting in his arm from the well trained arrow, Oliver couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she was. He was constantly amazed at how quickly the young woman he met all those years ago in a Queen Consolidated IT cubicle, stole her way into his heart. 

He didn’t know what he would do without her in his life. To see the look of dismay on Laurel’s face at knowing Sara could not be reunited with her beloved, it made his heart clench. Being separated from Felicity would be torture, it had been while he had been Al-Sahim. 

“A.R.G.U.S. doesn’t have anything,” Diggle announced to Oliver, coming up behind him. “At this rate though, we are going to burn through Lyla’s contacts.” 

Oliver turned away from Diggle, his throat catching at his thoughts. 

“Hmm?” Diggle tipped his head at Oliver’s confusion. 

Diggle took a step closer to Oliver. “You ok, man?” 

“It’s just ghosts.” At Diggle’s furrowed brow Oliver continued. “Not H.I.V.E.’s ghosts, just the ones from our past.” 

“The archer…?” 

“Just knowing all that Sara has been through, the fight she had to go through to come back ...” Oliver turned away from the center platform, placing both hands on the round table. “It just feels frustrating.” 

Diggle started at the name. “I know, man, but we can’t do anything about that right now.” 

“Laurel told me Nyssa didn’t want her to bring Sara back,” Oliver murmured, turning his head to glance at his friend. 

“You think Nyssa’s avoiding seeing Sara?” 

“Besides the fact that she was broken out of a League prison, by us, and if she steps foot out in the public she could be killed – no I don’t think she’s avoiding Sara.” Oliver pushed off the table but kept his back to the platform. “But it also brings up the question, does Malcolm know we were the ones to manufacture the escape?” 

Diggle could see the tension in Oliver’s shoulders as the younger man kept himself wound tighter than a spring. The thought of Malcolm Merlyn, now with all the resources of the League of Assassins, coming after them was daunting. It still begged the question: why send someone after Thea? The images and video demonstrated the lack of mercy the League, of Darhk, was known for. Merlyn certainly wouldn’t aim to kill his daughter. 

It had been good fortune that one of his former Lieutenants had run out of luck and needed a job, preferably off the books and highly lucrative. It was even better fortune that Felicity was willing to bankroll the off books mission to Nanda Parbat with Tatsu and the Lieutenants in tow to rescue Nyssa. 

Once the tricky job was done, the man disappeared a little richer, while Tatsu took Nyssa underground. They didn’t tell anyone about the mission or that they knew Nyssa was safe, but like Oliver said, they owed the woman at least that much for her help. 

“Why didn’t you call me to meet?” Diggle asked him, crossing his arms and shifting his feet so that he was facing the platform where Felicity continued to work, unaware of their conversation. 

“You were off.” Oliver shrugged, but the manner in which he pursed his lips told John he was anything but relaxed about the situation. “Nyssa was pretty upset when we got her out. We didn’t have a guarantee she would help.” 

“You think Sara could have gotten Nyssa to cooperate?” He had to admit it was more likely that Sara, the newly re-souled Sara, could gain Nyssa’s favor than any one of them. 

“Is it me or is the timing a little too convenient? First with the Nanda Parbat jailbreak, then with the archer attacking Thea, then me and Laurel…” Oliver trailed off as his eyes scanned the lair. 

Thea was still dressed in her leathers, while Laurel was suiting up. Felicity was typing away, gathering the information the team needed. 

John leaned closer, lowering his voice even though the three other team members were otherwise distracted. “You think it’s connected.” 

Oliver turned to meet John’s gaze. “It may be a long shot, but what are the odds that Malcolm sends a League member to kill his daughter, or better yet, even if he did find out it was us?” 

“It’s possible, but why not attack us? Why go after Thea?” John whispered, his own fear climbing up his spine. “These attacks aren’t random. This archer seems more like Darhk’s or Merlyn’s style.” 

“H.I.V.E. does have the resources.” Oliver tipped his head, rubbing his temples free of the thought of what was coming for them next. 

It could have been a coincidence. John knew that. He was aware of how crappy timing had impacted them in the past, how events that were unrelated seemed to coincide and caused a disturbance in the team. This could be one of those times. 

It could have all just happened on the same fucked up day. 

"What do we do now?” Or it could have been two attacks aimed at disabling the team by throwing them off track and leading them right to Merlyn. 

The direct attacks hit Thea, Oliver, and Laurel where their strengths were; their calmness under pressure, their ability to throw and take a punch. The strategic arrows, so similar to Malcolm’s, and the aim just as deadly as Oliver’s. 

For Felicity, it was her concentration and her information. If all the information she was getting was pointing her to Malcolm and the League, then that was where the team would go. They would bring war to Merlyn’s door if the information they had pointed it that way. 

“I asked Felicity to look into some of Darhk’s old communications to Lance, see if there were any leads we could follow.” 

“Hasn’t she already dug through those?” Diggle paused, his mind running through the options. “What do you think she’ll find?” 

Oliver sighed before turning back to face him. “Hopefully something.” 

“Well now that I’m here for the night, I got you covered.” The promise was there as their eyes locked. 

Diggle had Oliver’s back. One hundred percent of the time. Just as Oliver always had his. They would solve this mystery as a team. 

“Thanks, John.” 

John knew the younger man well. He knew that there was something else on his mind than just the Dark Archer roaming the streets. He could be patient and ask later, though. 

“Police scanners are going bonkers for a masked man shooting arrows into a group of club goers leaving that new club ‘Velvet’ downtown in the parking structure,” Felicity called out to both sides of the lair, her ponytail swaying as she attempted to gain the attention of both groups. “Isn’t that the one with the disco-tech floor lighting and really creepy couches? The ones that look like hands?” 

“Let’s suit up.” Diggle gave a short nod in return, both men walking across the concrete flooring to where their uniforms hung.

~~~

The parking structure the reports had come in from was practically empty. Splitting into groups of two, both teams leapfrogged each other to conduct a perimeter check of every level. Each time the report was the same, nothing. 

It was as if the reports had been a prank, because there was not a single person to be found. No group of drunk (or sober) club patrons, or men dressed in all black with sharp, pointy arrows. It was completely empty. 

“Felicity, are you sure the reports said this address?” Diggle questioned over the comm-link, glancing at Thea to his left who shook her head. Another empty level. 

“Are you questioning my ability to listen and write down an address?” Felicity’s tone was laden with sarcasm. “I’m absolutely positive. I’d bet both of my obscenely impressive degrees on it.” 

Thea stifled her laugh as John rolled his eyes. 

“We got nothing, again.” Laurel’s voice sounded off in the comm-link. “I think we are either about to walk into a trap or someone got it wrong.” 

Thea wondered if they were right. Had this all been a trap to lure them to an undisclosed location? But why? 

Sure, attacking one of them at a time, or even two of them out in public, had been more effective in terms of trapping them. Getting all four of them together, suited up, and fully aware of the potential threat was plain stupid. 

“Hey guys, the Detective just pulled into the garage,” Felicity spoke up from her end. “I’m going to pull up a bird’s eye view of the parking structure and see if I can find anything.” 

Laurel glanced over the edge of the rail, feeling the strangest sense of déjà vu at the sports complex only two blocks south of their position. 

“That’s the stadium Tommy rented out.” Oliver’s voice brought her back to the moment as he came up behind her. “You may not remember, I don’t think you came to that party.” 

Laurel nodded, glancing back at the stadium in question. The memory of a fight did spring to mind. Tommy had rented the stadium for strip kickball and Laurel didn’t want to go, nor did she want Oliver to attend the “game.” 

She remembered they argued until Oliver stormed out, a dismissive wave as he passed through her front door. They hadn’t spoken for week after that, both too proud to clear the air. He had gone, she knew that much, although they never did talk about the party afterwards, but Tommy had raved about how much fun they had had. 

Tommy had always been the one with the crazy, yet creative ideas. Renting out stadiums to throw a party. Running an underground club out of his dorm room at college number two, complete with a dance floor and stocked bar. He had a childish sense of enthusiasm when he was planning a party – it had to be bigger and better than the last, and it had to be bright and flashy. Just like his personality. 

She missed that about him. 

“Let’s keep moving.” Judging by the timbre of Oliver’s voice, he missed Tommy too.

~~~

Felicity typed in the code she had become all too familiar with, pulling up the satellite view of the parking structure where the team was currently checking for their masked faux Dark Archer. Or real Dark Archer, depending on what type of mid-life crisis Merlyn was going through. 

“Miss Smoak, we need to talk.” 

Felicity swatted a hand in his direction as she focused on the code in front of her. 

“Have they found the nut job yet?” Captain Lance sounded off behind her as he climbed the steps onto the platform. “It’d make my job a helluva lot easier if they were able to get this guy off the streets.” 

“We are working on it, Captain,” she mumbled as she typed in the remaining code and a new view of the parking structure came into focus. 

“Is that… how’d you get a satellite?” 

Felicity winced at the expression that must have been crowding Lance’s face, his eyebrows were probably doing that confused borderline disappointed look he got whenever the team did anything in the morally gray arena. 

She was sure “borrowing” a satellite from A.R.G.U.S. fell into that category. 

Felicity spun in her seat, slowly, until she met the Captain’s gaze. “Are you sure you really want to know?” 

Quentin paused, then frowned, before finally settling in his resignation. 

“Carry on,” he dismissed her with a wave, before turning to focus on one of the open monitors. 

_“Talk to me, Felicity.”_ Oliver’s voice came over the comm-link she had set up on speaker. _“What are we looking at?”_

Felicity scanned the satellite image as Lance hunched down over her shoulder, probably doing the same as her. By the thermal infrared images she was seeing, the only four people in that parking structure were the team. Both groups on the levels they were supposed to be on. 

“Zoom out,” Lance ordered behind her, pointing to the bottom corner of the screen where an identical parking structure was situated, two blocks north of their location. “There, right there.” 

Felicity saw the image move rapidly, sprinting in and out of the openings before seemingly flying through midair to the nearby buildings. It was almost as if this man was playing leapfrog with the buildings, although she knew he must have been zip-lining to the nearest structure. 

“Damn it, Oliver he’s heading in your direction, coming in from the north.” She couldn’t hold back the tremor in her voice, the one she couldn’t control anytime he was out in the field. 

_“I thought you said he was in this structure?”_ Oliver’s voice was rough with the timbre of the Green Arrow. _“What the hell is going on?”_

Felicity shook her head, her ponytail swaying fluidly behind her. “I don’t know. The call came in and said he was there, where you are.” 

“Unless it was a trap.” Lance’s voice was quiet behind her. 

She felt him tense behind her, his hand tightening its hold on the back of her chair. She was sure the same fear she had for Oliver out in the field was only slightly different from the fear he felt knowing Laurel was doing the same. 

They watched as the figures on the screen moved towards each other, all four converging on one location as the other archer landed on the top level of the parking structure. 

“They’ll be ok,” she murmured to herself, just as much as Lance, knowing full well what this other archer was capable of. “They’ll be ok.” 

“I know.” His hand came down on her shoulder, oddly comforting considering the circumstance. “Listen, the reason I’m here instead of there.” He nodded in the direction of the monitor before pulling a small flash drive from his jacket pocket. “I have the first 9-1-1 call, and the voice…” He trailed off, running a hand over his head. “The voice is someone it shouldn’t be. I can’t make heads or tails of it, and I need someone to tell me I’m wrong.” 

Felicity reached for the drive, her brows knitted at the mystery which had Lance tied up in knots. She turned back to the monitor before plugging in the USB, trying to focus on both tasks. 

“Guys, he’s heading in your direction,” she noted as the figures moved closer to each other. 

Lance tapped her shoulder as the audio file became available. A feeling began to creep up in her gut, an ominous one. It was not entirely unfamiliar, as it had been with her all day, ever since she opened the mail and found a letter from Cooper Sheldon, addressed to her current address. 

It was as if there was something in the air today, some bad sign that was hanging over all their heads. 

Clicking on the file before glancing back to the screen the sound of rustling filled the lair. Felicity turned back to Lance who seemed to lose all color from his face. 

_“Help.”_ The voice sounded frantic, and out of breath. Like the person was running. 

_“Nine One One dispatch, please state your emergency.”_

_“He’s shooting at us…with arrows.”_ That voice. It was so familiar. 

_“Sir? Sir, who is shooting at you?”_

_“Please help us...we’re in the parking garage off the corner off of West Fifth and Charles…oh god, why is he shooting at us?”_

It couldn’t be. He was dead. He had been dead for years. 

As the dial tone sounded over the speakers, Felicity looked back at Lance. She understood his pale complexion. There was no way the person on the other end of the 9-1-1 call could be who they both apparently thought it was. No way. 

_“Sir? Sir?”_

Felicity turned back to the screen to see five forms fighting in one of the openings of the park garage. The smallest of the five, Thea, seemed to take a hit before disappearing from view. 

If they were right in their unspoken assumption, then Tommy Merlyn was alive…and he was kicking the team’s ass.

~~~

“Thea!” Oliver dropped to his knees, his hands running over Thea’s face as she brought herself up on the weight of her elbows. 

“I’m ok,” she assured him. “I’m fine, just a punch.” 

Oliver shook his head, taking a breath as he pulled Thea to her feet. 

“We need to go,” she urged him, wiping at the corner of her lips where a slow trickle of blood had begun for the cut she now sported. 

As soon as the man dropped Thea, he took off in the direction of the stairs leading back up to the top floor. With Laurel and Diggle in tow, Oliver went to his sister, fearing she would not be ok. 

“You need to stop worrying about me, big brother,” Thea joked, lightly jabbing Oliver in the ribs, off the tortured expression that crossed his face. 

How was he supposed to stop worrying? He had adjusted to Thea being out in the field, he knew she could take care of herself, and then this guy comes around and nearly strangles her on a rooftop less than three hours prior, before attacking him in a diner. Thea could take care of herself, but he would never stop worrying. 

“Guys, he’s coming back down!” Felicity’s urgent yell came through the comm-link. 

“He just swung out a window.” Diggle’s voice was next, just as urgent as Felicity’s. “We’re on our way back down.” 

Oliver was just turning back to Thea when he caught sight of the black arrow whizzing towards her. With cat like reflexes, Oliver pushed Thea to the ground, following her down, but not before the arrow made its mark with a tear to her leather sleeve. 

“Damn it.” Thea pulled at the tear, as he noted the lack of blood. 

The arrow missed. 

Before Oliver could breathe in relief, he felt hands around his neck, his hood slipping as he was pulled roughly to his knees. 

“Ollie!” Thea screamed, her eyes filled with terror as Oliver felt the man behind him squeeze harder. 

“Dig, get down there now!” He heard Felicity’s voice in his ear, her loud voice, something he had become quite accustomed to over the years. 

He saw the edges of his vision begin to blur, Thea’s hunched form rocked side to side as she seemed to propel herself for him and the man. Oliver watched as she was swatted away, causing his attacker to loosen his grip with one hand, while letting go with the other entirely. 

Oliver took the moment to shift his weight and grabbed his attacker’s arm, which was still positioned over his throat. He pulled, hard, and threw the man over his shoulder and into the silver parked car in front of them. 

As he pulled himself to his full height, he heard the sounds of Thea coming up behind him, bow raised, arrow notched, and Diggle and Laurel running in their direction not even one hundred feet ahead of them. Oliver never thought he would be so happy to see his team members as he was in that moment. 

“Oh my…” The words faded away as Thea stumbled slightly, her eyes fixed on the man he had thrown into the car. 

Oliver looked down, breath heavy in his lungs, his throat still raw from the man’s grip. He knew why she was shocked now. He understood her stumble and shell shocked expression. 

When Oliver threw the man over his shoulder his mask must have slipped, revealing just enough of their attacker’s face to them. His steely eyes and formidable chin raised in defiance. 

But it couldn’t be… there was no way the man in front of them was truly there. 

“Tommy?” Thea choked out in disbelief, but her arrow never slipped. 

“What is it?” Laurel’s voice was just in front of them now. 

Oliver took his eyes off the man in front of him for less than a second, but it was a second too long. The loud bang and flash of light caused him to take two steps back, Thea following suit, while his hands went to his eyes first and then his ears. He vaguely heard yelling around him, questions from his friends about what was happening. 

When the smoke cleared, he was expecting the four of them to be alone in the parking structure. He expected Tommy Merlyn to be gone and the doubt to begin to creep in. 

How was he alive? Oliver watched him die. He held him in his arms and wept as the life left Tommy’s body. He watched the paramedics carry him out, he attended his funeral. Oliver knew Tommy died. There was no question mark like there had been with Sara or any of the other person who had come back from the dead. 

So how was he here now? 

What Oliver wasn’t expecting when the smoke cleared out and the ringing in his ears subsided was to see Diggle kneeling over an unconscious form a yard away from where they all stood in shock. 

“That visor really does come in handy,” Thea muttered beside him. 

“Is that?” Oliver heard Laurel, but didn’t have the presence of mind to go to her. Neither did Thea. 

All their eyes were fixed on the man Diggle had knocked off his feet with a good right hook, and now had immobile beneath his knee. 

Tommy was alive.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after so many delays, here is the final chapter. Thank you to my awesome beta who was amazing and encouraging each step of the way. 
> 
> I hope that you were able to enjoy this story. When I started the story I had so many ideas that I wasn't able to fulfill by the deadline. I can be persuaded to do a sequel if there is interest.

Laurel couldn’t believe it. She had seen masked men with heightened strength take over the city, her baby sister take on men twice her size, men and women with supernatural powers, and her sister go from, newly resurrected without a soul, to back from the dead with a soul. 

Yet, seeing Tommy Merlyn chained up in a prison cell, all part of the new lair’s design plan, was unbelievable. 

After Diggle knocked him out, the team ushered Tommy back to the lair to be locked up. Where they could all be safe and take a moment to think. At least that’s what she assumed they were supposed to do. 

All she could do was stare at the unconscious form of her previously dead boyfriend. He looked the same. A few lines worn into his brow that hadn’t been there before and a bit more muscle tone, but the same. 

He was still Tommy. The Tommy who made her eggs in the morning and hogged all the covers. The Tommy who made her laugh and cry, and made her feel a sense of home again. The same Tommy who risked his life to pull her from the wreckage of CNRI and got her to safety. 

Her Tommy. 

“You OK?” 

Laurel started at the sound of Felicity’s soft voice coming up behind her. 

Laurel shook herself to face her friend. 

“Fine.” At Felicity’s dubious expression Laurel sighed. “I’m not fine. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be.” 

Felicity’s arm stretched around Laurel’s shoulder, firm and comforting. “He’s alive. I think you’re allowed to be a little confused.”

“How is this even possible?” She kept her eyes on his unmoving form, locked up right in their own prison. 

She felt as though she had been asking herself that same question since Oliver came back from the dead, the first time. He had been dead for five years, lost at sea with her sister. She had moved on, or at least tried to until he came back. Then Sara came back, and soon people she had never known started showing up from beyond the grave. It was as though death was no longer permanent to them anymore. 

“I think we’ve all seen stranger things over the past few years,” Felicity voiced beside her, taking the words right out of her mouth. “You said Nyssa destroyed the Lazarus pit, right?” 

Laurel kept her eyes straight ahead but gave a solitary nod. 

“Tommy must have been resurrected before then.” 

“Unless there’s another pit out there somewhere.” Laurel hated the thought. 

She hated there being someone out there to put Tommy through that. To bring him back from the dead, alone, without his family or friends. 

“He tried to kill Oliver and me earlier. Tommy wouldn’t have done that. Our Tommy wouldn’t have put innocent people at risk like that.” Sara had acted the same. Sara never would have harmed those people if it hadn’t been for the pit’s effects. “It has to be the side effects of the pit.” 

Sara was a good person, just like Tommy. Neither of them would go down the path they did if it wasn’t for this darkness pressing over them. For Sara, it had started with the League. For Tommy, it had been his father. But, even with that darkness, they were still good. 

“Laurel, what if it isn’t?” Felicity moved to face Laurel no longer at her side, but now in her line of sight. “No offense, but Tommy died thinking you and Oliver were about to give it another go. Even though he still loved you enough to risk his life, that doesn’t erase those thoughts.” 

“You don’t think he’s been recently resurrected?” It was impossible. 

She watched the cemetery workers bury his body beneath six feet of earth. She watched as they piled the dirt over the top of the ridiculously expensive coffin Oliver had arranged for. Then just as they buried Sara, Laurel watched unnamed men bury Tommy. 

She visited his grave every day. At first, she went out of grief and love for the man long since gone. Her memories of him stuck on a loop of how much they loved each other. All the mornings he woke early to make her breakfast, and all the nights they ordered Chinese food and drank wine on the couch. 

That soon morphed to self-loathing and punishment as the bottle in her purse became a noose around her neck. The pills in her pocket dragged her further into her depression, her self-hatred. Gone were the good memories, all replaced with the times she lied to him and held him at arm’s length. 

For over three years she visited him. She would tell him about her recovery, her fight to avenge Sara’s death, her broken relationship with her father. She told Tommy everything just the way she should have when he had been alive. 

Only after she had donned the mask and started jumping from rooftops had her visits tapered off in their regularity. Even so, there had never been a disturbance in the earth surrounding his tombstone. 

Whoever brought him back had to have done it recently, or else she would have known. 

“Not unless he wasn’t in the ground to begin with.” Felicity’s voice shook her from her thoughts. 

Laurel paused, her eyes drifting back to Tommy’s unmoving form. If he had been alive this whole time, why hadn’t he come to her? Why was he now trying to kill her, and Oliver, and Thea? They were family.

~~~

“You all right man?” Oliver had heard Diggle approach, had heard his words, but still refused to turn away from the monitors.

Felicity had set up the live feed so they could have constant eyes on Tommy’s cell. 

It felt just as strange to think it, as it did to witness his best friend attack him. 

He had heard Laurel and Felicity’s conversation and knew where both were coming from. Laurel was right; for someone to have disturbed the ground any time, would have been difficult. Tommy had constant visitors, even when he and Felicity were away. Thea often paid her respects just as she had done for him, and Laurel still made it a point to visit his grave. Someone would have noticed before Tommy started filling Star City’s residents with arrows. 

Felicity was right, too. Tommy’s attacks had seemed controlled, precise. He came for them specifically, whereas Sara’s attacks at been erratic and aimed at women who looked like Thea. There had been no attacks on anyone resembling Malcolm in the previous two weeks. Captain Lance had even confirmed it. 

Malcolm had been responsible for the earthquakes that levelled part of the Glades and had taken Tommy’s life. It would have been only a slight stretch to name Oliver as responsible for Tommy’s death as he didn’t get to him in time, and Laurel as he went to CNRI to save her. 

Thea was the anomaly. The reason Oliver knew Tommy was still Tommy. 

Thea had no part in the quakes, had been nowhere near Tommy when he died. There was no realm of possibility that could have placed Thea Queen at fault for Tommy’s death. So why attack her, unless Tommy was more in control of his actions than he would’ve been soulless.

“So in light of the bad night which only got worse, I set a trace on all of Malcolm’s account, going back seven years.” 

The sound of Felicity’s voice was the only thing that could drag him away from where he was staring. 

“Why seven?” John asked, arms folded over chest. 

Felicity shrugged before sitting in her chair to pull up the information for them to see. “Prime number, I don’t know. I just picked a random number.” 

“I’m assuming you telling us this means you found something.” Oliver dragged a hand over his face, suddenly feeling more tired than normal. 

“I did,” she told them absently, as she pulled the screen up. “Malcolm received a series of deposits around the time you came back from the dead.” 

Oliver saw the dates lining up when he first came home to Starling City. “He didn’t have anything to do with that.” 

“I know,” Felicity nodded as she continued typing and pulling up bank statements. “I’m sure if I go back further, we would see the same accounts listed. They were all for small enough amounts to go unchecked, but large enough to be a payoff of some kind.” 

“I’m sure a man like Malcolm Merlyn had assets all over the place. What do these bank transfers have to do with Tommy?” 

“The account number the money was wired from shows up one more time before the transfers stop all together.” Felicity pulled up a statement from the month of the earthquake, five days after to be precise. “This time it is a deposit from Malcolm’s account into the other one.” 

“Malcolm was giving them money.” Oliver finished. “Why?” 

“Maybe Malcolm wanted protection since you wounded him enough that he ‘died,’” Felicity air quoted before turning back to the screen. “Or maybe Malcolm was paying someone to bring his dead son back from the dead.” 

“Malcolm and Ra’s were hardly on speaking terms at this point,” John supplied, leaning forward to look at the bank statements in question. 

“No, but Ra’s wasn’t the only one with access to the pit’s waters.” It hit Oliver clearly and straight in the chest, making it difficult to breath. “Ra’s told me that when he became the next Ra’s Al Ghul he was supposed to kill his competition.” 

“Darhk was his competition,” Felicity breathed out. 

He could see the realization in her eyes as he continued, “Darhk took water from the Pit before he escaped, which is part of why he has survived this long.” 

“But how could he have used that water on Tommy?” Diggle asked. “And I thought he hated Malcolm.” 

“He hates Malcolm now.” Oliver tried to piece it all together, wondering if he was even partially right. “What if Darhk was Malcolm’s benefactor but when Darhk brought Tommy back, he pulled out?” 

“We know that Darhk’s touch can’t hurt Thea,” Felicity filled in, turning to face both men. “Which may be tied to the effects the Pit had on her.” 

“So what if Darhk’s powers are also tied to the magic of the pit, because of the water he stole?” Oliver added. “Meaning that no matter when Darhk brought Tommy back, the Pit’s influence would also be present.” 

“The bloodlust,” Diggle responded in kind. “Even if that theory is right, why send Tommy for everyone now? Tommy wouldn’t have been dead for too long, meaning he wouldn’t have gone through what Sara went through. He would still have his soul.” 

Oliver paused, turning to look at the screen. Tommy was still motionless on the concrete floor. Could they be right? Could Darhk have been the reason Tommy was still alive? Was Tommy alive because of Malcolm’s dealings? 

“Not if the magic Darhk uses has a different effect than the Pit,” Felicity added. “We’ve only seen the direct result of those waters. I’m assuming, based on what we’ve seen, Darhk’s magic wouldn’t work the same.” 

“So what does this mean?” Diggle leaned back to lean against the railing, eyes shifting between Oliver and Felicity. 

What did it mean? 

“I think Sleeping Beauty is about to wake up,” Felicity interrupted. “We should probably get down there so Laurel’s not alone.” 

“I’ll go get Thea.” John nodded before moving towards the elevator which would take him to Thea Queen’s hiding spot – the campaign office. 

Oliver stared back at the computer screen for a beat longer. It was all too much. Seeing Tommy, alive. Again. 

“Soul or no soul, Tommy is going to need his best friend.” He felt Felicity’s hand graze his shoulder before resting on his bicep. “He’s going to need you, Oliver.” 

“There’s so much we don’t know.” Oliver blew out as he kept his eyes on the image of Tommy shaking himself awake in his cell, still clothed in his black robes. “Where has he been all these years? Why did he shoot at Thea and me? Laurel? What happened to him?” 

Felicity squeezed his arm, turning his attention away from the screen. He could see the sadness in her eyes, the pain he must have been feeling, reflecting back at him. Felicity and Tommy hadn’t been close, they had only met once when she hooked up the club’s WiFi, but she knew how much Tommy meant to him. 

“That’s a lot of questions.” He let his head fall until their foreheads met. 

She squeezed his arm a little tighter in reassurance. “All of them very good.” 

“But too much for right now.” 

Felicity pulled away, but let her other hand cup his jaw. Her eyes stared straight into his, confident and assured. 

“Maybe at the same time, but first see if he remembers he’s Tommy Merlyn.” Her voice was no more than a whisper. “The rest can follow.” 

Oliver nodded, trying to imagine a life without this woman in it. A life without Felicity seemed incomprehensible now. He couldn’t picture a universe without her standing by his side, guiding him or keeping him in check. She was more than just the love of his life, she was his best friend. 

Just like Tommy had been. 

“You have contemplative face.” She pulled back again, this time taking a step back. 

“Tommy was my best friend, no matter what happened between us,” Oliver told her. “He never told my secret, even though he had ample opportunity and disapproved of me being the Hood.” 

“Tommy was … is a stand up guy,” Felicity filled in, trying to catch his thought train. “What’s your point?” 

“Tommy Merlyn, that Tommy, never would have betrayed me, even though I gave him every reason to.” The thought of sleeping with Laurel even though he knew he shouldn’t, even though he told Tommy to go back to her, played in the back of his mind. “If he was still Tommy he wouldn’t have tried to take us out multiple times tonight.” 

“You think he may be soulless?” 

Oliver frowned. “Maybe not soulless, but maybe not himself.” 

Felicity turned her gaze to the computer image of Tommy moving to stand on his feet. “Well let’s go find out.

~~~

Diggle and Thea had already made their way to the holding area of the lair, a short walk from most other areas they had built. Oliver thought it best to spread out, with more people consistently joining and visiting the team of heroes.

The holding center, complete with security doors with triple the sensors and locking mechanisms of the other doors, was the brainchild of his and Felicity’s. A centralized location in the underground facility with heightened security, for any potential criminal element they found. It wasn’t Lian Yu, but it was a start for temporary containment. 

Oliver would hazard to say it was a good idea seeing as how Tommy now sat in the center of a reinforced cage, black robes still in place and a wild look in his eyes Oliver had never seen in his friend. 

“Has he said anything?” Oliver asked no one in particular as John, Thea, and Laurel all stood motionless near the main entrance. 

Everyone, Tommy included, remained motionless in the room. All staring at each other, as if asking for the next step in this complicated process. 

Felicity made the first move, crossing the floor to stand between Thea and Laurel, probably unsure who needed more comfort at the moment. 

Laurel uncrossed her arms and took her eyes off of Tommy to focus on Oliver. “No. He woke up and now refuses to talk.” 

“To be fair, he didn’t seem too talkative when he was trying to choke me out on that rooftop,” Thea muttered as Felicity placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

Oliver looked to Diggle who only nodded and moved to the other side of the room while Oliver took a step towards the cage. 

“Tommy?” he tried, hoping to break the hollow look staining his best friend’s gaze. “Tommy, do you know who I am?” 

“I’ve tried that, Oliver,” Laurel intoned, her voice impatient as she let out a sigh. “He won’t talk.” 

Oliver looked to Laurel over this shoulder but caught Felicity’s slight, encouraging smile meant to urge him to continue. 

“Tommy, do you remember me?” Oliver took another step forward, this time placing a hand on the iron bars. 

Tommy stared back, blank and empty in his expression. He made no move except for the rise and fall of his chest. Tommy kept his seated position on the concrete floor, staring up at the people surrounding him. Not afraid, but not responsive. 

“It’s no use,” Laurel spoke up again, the sadness and resignation in her voice was all too clear to those in the room. 

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Felicity reach out with her free hand to take Laurel’s hand in her own. John seemed to take up position on the other side of the cage, eyes fixed on Oliver’s next move. 

With steady hands, Oliver pulled the key fob designed specifically to unlock this door out of his pocket before lining it up with the security pad. When prompted he placed his thumb over the sensor and waited for the click of the door. 

“What are you doing?” he heard Thea step closer behind him. 

“It’s OK,” he told her. “It’s only Tommy.” 

 

“Oliver, stop.” Laurel now was trying to take a step forward, but was seemingly stopped by Felicity’s tug. “Why aren’t you two trying to stop him?” 

Felicity only tightened her hold, which he knew was a lot for her when it came to Laurel and Thea. Both were trained fighters and Felicity hadn’t liked the idea of being the one to have to keep them from stopping him or charging into the cage, too. It had to be him in that cage, and it had to be John on the other side, ready to fall in if Oliver couldn’t prove his theory. 

“Just let him try, Laurel,” John assured her, his stance changing to one ready for a fight. 

“Tommy’s tried to kill all of us tonight,” she told him, slipping out of Felicity’s grasp. “He may still be Tommy deep inside, but we haven’t gotten him back yet.” 

Oliver let his attention turn back to Tommy, in front of him. He took two steps into the cage. He would know in a minute if his theory was correct. It would all become clear soon enough. 

“Hey buddy.” Oliver leaned lower so he could be level with his friend. “We just want to help you.” 

The tension in the room could be felt by everyone as they waited for Tommy’s response or lack of one. He didn’t have to look to know that all eyes were on him and Tommy, just waiting for what would happen next. 

“Oliver?” Tommy’s eyes met Oliver and seemed to clear for the briefest of seconds before they darkened once more. 

A slow, curling smile that was so unlike Tommy’s normal cheshire grin of debauchery or his easy going, on-top-of-the-world, smile lit up his face. 

“I was hoping it would be you.” It was Tommy’s voice, Oliver knew that much, but it still didn’t sound like his best friend. The voice of the man in front of him brought an involuntary chill up his spine. 

Oliver rocked back on his heels just in time for Tommy to lunge forward, knocking both men off balance. 

“Shut the door!” He heard Felicity yell as John used his key fob and thumbprint to unlock the other side of the cage. “We can’t let him out.” 

Laurel was racing to the entrance of the room, her handprint locking them all in – Tommy included. 

He barely had a chance to breathe as Tommy rolled over him while slamming Oliver to the concrete floor, not hard enough to knock him out, but enough to leave a bruise. He felt Diggle pull Tommy off of him and throw him into the nearby open cage door. 

That only gave Tommy pause before he reared his head back and forward, knocking his head against Diggle’s in a hard manner. Diggle’s two steps back, hand to forehead, were enough for Tommy to spring out of the cage and towards where Thea and Felicity stood off the side.

“Felicity move!”

Oliver heard his sister cry out to Felicity, but barely had the chance to lift his eyes to see Tommy stalking towards Felicity and Thea, a look of murder in his eyes. Thea pulled Felicity towards the secondary exit, while Felicity fumbled in her pocket before producing the small black device he gave her seconds before they entered the holding area. 

It hadn’t been his plan for this to go sideways, but he wasn’t going to leave them undefended with a volatile Tommy. Diggle knew him well enough and trusted him enough to follow his lead, now he just needed Felicity to act on the unspoken contingency plan they all knew to follow if Tommy broke free. 

And as the high pitched screams of Sara’s old canary cry filled the room, everyone’s hands went to their ears, Tommy included. He seemed to stop where he was, as he clawed at the sides of his head, his intent of Thea and Felicity now forgotten. 

Oliver took the opportunity and lunged towards him, grabbing him around the midsection and hurtling them both into the nearby workbench, which still remained empty. Tommy didn’t have a chance to regain his bearings as Oliver’s hand came up and slammed his head into the flat surface, knocking Tommy unconscious once more. 

“-figure out how to turn the damn thing off?” Felicity’s yells became clear as the cries faded out. “Oh thank god it stopped.” 

Oliver glanced around the room. Diggle was holding onto the cage door, his breath heavy as he glared at Tommy’s fallen form, while Laurel and Thea looked on in disbelief. Felicity however, was still glaring at the device in her hand. 

Tommy remained crumpled on the floor before him, a slow trickle of blood running down the side of his face from where it connected with the metal work bench. 

“I guess we have a lot more work to do,” Diggle told him, straightening up to his full height. “Did you get what you wanted?” 

Oliver let out a sigh, not sure how the others would take his fact finding mission. “Yes.” 

But Oliver knew that when he looked in Tommy’s eyes, up close and unobstructed, he knew with one hundred percent certainty that Tommy Merlyn did still have his soul. Whatever blood lust he was feeling, wasn’t induced by the pit. Tommy was still in there.

~~~

Pain. Complete and utter excruciating pain.

It radiated to every inch of his body from the tips of his toes, to the hairs on his head. It was all pain and dark. The darkness seemed to stretch on in front of him, forming inky black shapes, each more terrifying than the last. He didn’t understand.

He tried to pull at his last memory. He tried to picture a face in his mind, any face, any clue as to how he came to be in this agonizingly dark place. All he came up with was more pain, sharp and stabbing in his mind that spread like a rubber band around his skull to twist and press on his eyes. 

The pain was too much. He tried to take in a breath of air, something to cool the pressure that was spreading through his being. But even the air he tried to take in felt as though it was crushing his lungs. It wasn’t pain this time though, it was pressure. Like something was sitting on his chest putting undue weight, crushing his ribcage and lungs in a merciless way. 

“It should’ve been me.” 

He would have spun around if he could have found his legs at the sound of a choked sob behind him. Or was it over him. There was screaming and the squeal of metal on metal. It all bled together in his mind, until it became blood rushing through his ears. 

Someone was crying, people were screaming, and suddenly the smell of smoke and ash were filling his nose making him choke. The action caused another vicious round of pain to spasm throughout his chest. 

Then it stopped. The pain overtaking him began to ebb, the air in his lungs no longer threatened to crush him. He could even see the surrounding forms that had once been black shadows. 

Slowly the light returned to his eyes as he could finally breathe again. His mind was no longer empty but full of memories, full of Laurel, and Oliver, and Thea. It was complete with images and emotions, love and hate, pain and happiness. He saw his mother tucking him in at night, his father’s back as he walked out the door, Oliver’s smile which promised a night of nothing good, and Laurel’s hand clasped tight in his own as she let him walk her home one night. 

So much of Laurel was coming back to him. Omelets in the morning, wine in the evenings, and laughter. So much laughter. 

His life, it was all there, in his mind. 

So was the night he ran into a crumbling building and pulled Laurel from the rubble. He hadn’t made it out. 

“That ought to do it.” A pleasant voice said beside him clear as day, although his vision still blurred slightly. “Don’t sit up too fast, you’re still recuperating.” 

Tommy blinked. The light he could now see was coming from a Victorian style lamp on the side table. 

“I’ll leave the two of you to get reacquainted.” The man who was beside him gave someone a curt nod, a someone he couldn’t see, before glancing back down at Tommy. “Tommy, I can’t wait to get to know you better.” 

"I can't thank you enough." Tommy couldn't hide the chill at the sound of Malcolm's voice directed at this new stranger. 

"Don't worry." The stranger smiled a mouth full of white teeth and secret truths hidden in his eyes as he clapped his hand on Malcolm's shoulder over Tommy's prone form. "You will." 

Tommy felt the pain again, only this time it was more ominous and faded before he could discover its source, although he could hazard a bet it was due to whatever apparent deal his father had just struck up. The man in front of him walked away with barely a glance back as if the matter had all been settled. This new stranger who was wearing a business suit with close cut blonde hair, giving him an oddly suave appearance and a timbre to his voice which held a gentle yet ice-like quality. Even though he didn't even know this man's name, Tommy couldn’t shake the feeling he got. 

It was almost like he owed him his life.

~~~

Felicity couldn’t help but stare. Not in the way she would stare at Oliver as he worked his way up and down the salmon ladder, or even the way Barry would flit in and out of rooms faster than imaginable. No, this kind of staring was related to a shock of a different kind.  
She hadn’t known Tommy Merlyn all that well. In fact, she only met him a handful of times, each one about the club’s Wi-Fi and internet security hook ups. Even though she did the majority of her off duty work in the basement, she couldn’t let her new friend Oliver’s club go unsecured. The guy they hired before her could barely code. It was a wonder they hadn’t been losing money to hackers from the get go.  
“Felicity, you’re staring.”

“What?” She glanced down at the tablet in her hands quickly before turning back to Oliver. “I wasn’t staring.” 

Oliver tipped his head in her direction as if to call her out. 

“OK, I was staring a little bit.” She placed the tablet on the workbench near where she sat before spinning to face Oliver completely. “It’s hard not to stare at your formerly dead best friend.” 

Oliver answered with a lone nod before letting his shoulders slump forward. It was easy to see how defeated he was, how much pain he was inflicting on himself thinking of all the ways he failed Tommy. Reading Oliver’s moods was as easy to her as coding. 

“It’s not your fault,” she told him as she took two, slow steps towards him. “You know that right?” 

When he didn’t respond, she put her hands on his shoulders and gave him a quick, reassuring squeeze. She didn’t want him to take this all on himself. She didn’t want him to carry the weight of Tommy’s resurrection and subsequent (probable) trauma. It wasn’t Oliver’s fault, and she hated that he was internalizing it. 

He lifted his eyes to meet hers, the pain evident in his gaze. “How do you know I think it’s my fault?” 

“You always take the responsibility for things you shouldn’t,” she told him obviously, wishing she could make him smile. “I just wish you’d take responsibility when you throw your wet towel on the bed or use the last of the milk.” 

He only rolled his eyes in response before looking back to where Tommy lay unconscious. 

“He tried to kill all of us.” There was the resignation again. The tone of acceptance that this was a problem which fell to Oliver Queen as the root. “I couldn’t get through to him.” 

Felicity sighed and let her head fall onto Oliver’s shoulder. Maybe her presence and touch could help him. 

“We don’t know what he went through.” Felicity kept her eyes on Tommy. 

Oliver let out another heavy breath, but this time let one hand curl around her own and his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer as he did. 

“Am I interrupting?” Diggle’s voice was soft behind them. 

She lifted her head only slightly to see Diggle line up next to Oliver. Two brothers in arms. 

Diggle glanced down to Oliver before meeting her eyes. “Any change?” 

She wasn’t sure if he was asking about Oliver or Tommy. Like her, he knew Oliver’s routine of taking on the responsibility of others. Sometimes she felt as though John knew Oliver’s habits even better than she did. The two had spent some time together before she came on the scene and were always more connected through their similar backgrounds. 

As if on cue, Tommy’s previously still form began to stir on the ground. She wondered why he hadn’t woken up sooner, but Oliver had hit his head pretty hard. 

“Should we get the others?” Felicity looked between both men, who only stepped towards the cell in the middle of the floor. “Guess that’s a ‘no.’” 

“Tommy?” Oliver’s voice was low as he crouched down beside the closed cell door, this time not making a move to enter. “Tommy, do you know who I am?” 

Diggle stood firm next to Oliver, while Felicity waited back, hoping that something would be different this time around. Maybe the younger Merlyn wouldn’t try to take them all out again. She glanced to John, hoping to catch his eye. John had Oliver’s back, at least that she could be sure of. 

“Oliver?” Tommy’s voice surprised them all. “Wha … Where am I?” 

Tommy lifted his head, his eyes seemingly clearer than they were the last time he opened them. The goose egg sized bump on his head drew his hand to his scalp where he tried to rub the pain away, before hissing at the pressure of his fingers. 

Oliver bounced slightly on his knees, glancing at her and Diggle before turning back to Tommy. The anticipation was visible on her boyfriend even though he tried to hold it back. She just hoped Tommy wasn’t trying to play them. 

“Tommy, do you know what year it is?” 

Tommy shook his head, blinking in rapid succession as he tried to take in the “where” of his surroundings. It was almost as if he were memorizing what he was seeing. Taking in each piece of the puzzle, in hopes of solving it. His eyes roved all over the cell, the bars, the concrete walls, the three people positioned opposite him, and finally down to his attire. 

“What the hell am I wearing?” His eyes flashed up to meet Oliver’s quickly, taking one more second to try to place himself. “Where am I?” 

“Merlyn, we need you to think.” This time it was Diggle who stepped forward, taking Oliver’s still, silent frame as indicator he was needed. “What’s the last thing you remember?” 

Tommy shook his head as if trying to move the memories around in his mind. Felicity wondered what that felt like, to have missing time, or experiences you weren’t quite sure of. Was it like a fog in your mind, trapping you in and away from your loved ones? Or was it a confusing jig saw puzzle of pieces? 

“A parking garage.” Tommy muttered, squinting his eyes and furrowing his brows as he tried to focus. Oliver glanced back to Diggle, his relief at Tommy’s consciousness suddenly not as strong. “I was in a parking garage and … you were there?” 

It was a question, not a statement of assurance, as Tommy looked to Diggle. Diggle’s mouth was set in a firm line. 

“So were you.” Tommy turned to Oliver. “And there were others … Was it Thea?” 

No one moved or even thought of speaking up. Felicity let her hand cover her mouth, which was hanging open in shock. Tommy was able to remember what he did, but he still seemed confused. Sara hadn’t even been able to form sentences in English when she woke up. 

“Oh god.” Tommy gasped, looking between the men. “I tried to kill Thea?” 

More like everyone, but Felicity could understand Thea being the point of interest. 

“I tried to kill …” Tommy tailed off before looking down at the outfit he was wearing. “I killed people. Oh god, Oliver, I killed people.” 

Felicity’s throat tightened as she stepped forward to place a hand on Oliver’s shoulder where he was still crouched low near the cage. Oliver hadn’t spoken, hadn’t moved, since Tommy started waking up. The relief at his friend knowing who he was, knowing who Oliver was in front of him without malice in his voice or murder in his eyes, was slowly receding. 

“Why would I do that? Why would I kill people?” Tommy cried out, backing away until his back hit the other side of the cell. “Oh god, what happened to me?” 

“Merlyn, I need you to calm down,” John called out, grabbing the bars with both hands, as Tommy didn’t appear to hear him, his breathing coming out in heaving gulps as his eyes fell to the floor. 

Felicity knew what was happening, she had had moments like those as well. Panic attacks and anxiety were all too common to her. She knew the signs of one almost a mile away. They needed to break him out of it, before he hyperventilated. 

“Tommy, you need to focus,” Felicity tried, stepping past the frozen Oliver on the floor. “Tommy, you need to breathe.” 

But Tommy ignored her, too, as he placed both hands on the floor, curling his back as he heaved and tried to find his breath. He shook his head back and forth, mumbling incoherent words and sentences. She could hear words like “blood” and“dead” and “quake” every so often in between his ragged breaths and sobs, but he was drifting away from them. 

“Tommy?” Oliver’s voice sounded through the room, deep and commanding. Not at all weak or frozen, as he must have felt moments before. “Hey, Tommy, listen to my voice.” 

Tommy shook his head, but at least picked it up to find the source of Oliver’s voice. 

“Tommy, breath. Just focus on my voice, and breath.” Felicity watched as Oliver moved his way around the cell until he was next to Tommy’s prone form. “I’m right here. I’m right here, buddy.” 

“Oliver?” Tommy’s voice was so broken, and still breathless. 

“Hey, it’s me. It’s Oliver.” 

Felicity watched as Oliver’s hand slipped between the bars to grab one of Tommy’s. 

A pressure on Felicity’s shoulder made her jump, until she realized it was Diggle beside her. 

Oliver was almost laying on the floor, on the other side of the bars from Tommy, holding onto his hand, while whispering to his friend to breath. She saw the tears welling up in Oliver’s eyes and already knew she had tears of her own racing down her cheeks. 

“It’s OK.” She heard Oliver whisper to Tommy once more as Tommy calmed. His whimpers dying down as his breathing got under control. “It’s OK.”

~~~

“When I woke up, after the earthquake, there was a man in the room with me.”

Oliver couldn’t help but remain completely still as Tommy told them his story. 

After calming him down, Oliver stood to his feet while Diggle and Felicity remained on their side of the cell. As much as Oliver wanted to let Tommy out of the cell, he kept telling himself that only an hour prior Tommy had wreaked havoc on the entire team, and less than an hour before that he tried to kill them all in a parking garage. 

He wanted to trust Tommy, but he couldn’t. Not yet. 

Tommy’s acceptance of cell door remaining locked tight only made it more difficult for Oliver. He wanted to help Tommy, not keep him locked up. 

“Who was it?” Felicity asked, staying rooted beside Diggle. 

Tommy shook his head as if fishing through the memories. “I didn’t know at the time. He said we were going to work together and he seemed to know my father.” 

“He said he knew Malcolm?” Diggle was the one to speak this time. 

“No, my father was there.” The face Tommy made was one of something sour, as if he had a foul taste still left in his mouth all these years later. “My … Malcolm paid this to … save my life.” 

Each word seemed more difficult for Tommy to process than the last. 

“After I woke up, Malcolm explained that the city wasn’t safe and that his friend was going to help us.” Tommy explained, glancing between the two groups on either side. “I didn’t find out that I had been technically dead for a couple months.” 

“Thea …” Oliver paused to gauge Tommy’s reaction. Had Tommy been given any clue as to who Thea really was to him? “Thea was hurt last year and we had to go to extreme measures to save her.” 

“She’s OK though?” Tommy asked, but no different than he normally would. 

Normal. Oliver wished the situation they were in was normal. 

“She’s fine now,” Oliver nodded. “But there were some after effects. A blood lust. A desire to … kill. Specifically the person who hurt her.” 

Tommy quirked his head to the side out of confusion. 

“Do you remember feeling … anything, like that?” 

Tommy paused before letting out a long breath. “No, man. What happened to me … it was different?” 

“The man who was with you,” Felicity spoke up, not wanting to get off track. “Who was he?” 

“He said his name was Damien. He apparently brought me back from the dead.” Tommy’s eyes darkened at the memory, but not in the way they had before. 

Felicity nodded, catching Oliver’s eyes through the cell bars. That meant Damien Darhk did have the ability to raise the dead. Which also meant that Tommy may not have had to go through what Sara and Thea went through with the Pit. 

“Even though Malcolm paid him to do it,” Tommy added on. “He said that Malcolm’s debt was not fulfilled and that as part of that collection, I would have to work for him.” 

“You were a part of H.I.V.E.?” Diggle asked, leaning back against the wall for support. “Willingly?” 

“Well the guy did save my life.” Tommy sounded almost affronted at Diggle’s suggestion. “But I wasn’t always compliant. It started off with fighting lessons and archery practice.” 

Tommy glanced up to catch Oliver’s expression. Oliver knew Tommy was skilled with a bow and arrow, something he hadn’t known how to do before he died. It made sense for Darhk to train him before sending him out or using him to his organization’s advantage. 

Tommy continued, but kept his gaze towards Oliver. “When he wanted me to start killing people I said ‘no’ and told him to go fuck himself.” 

“I wish I could have seen that,” Felicity whistled off to the side. 

“I started fighting and that’s when I started getting locked in dark rooms for days on end. Then they would drag me into a room and pour water on my face until I couldn’t breath and … a lot of other things too.” 

“They tortured you.” Oliver stepped forward. 

Tommy only nodded in return, his eyes turning down with a look of guilt. Oliver knew there were so many different possibilities when Tommy was resurrected. So many different avenues which could have been taken. The idea that Tommy had been tortured and in effect brainwashed wasn’t one Oliver had wanted to consider. 

“I kept fighting them and the next thing I knew I was being given this yellow pill and then I couldn’t make my own decisions anymore.” 

The pill. The mind control pill. The pill Diggle and Oliver saw Darhk give to his Ghosts at the pier. If it was the pill then it had to leave aftereffects. It had to leave a trail whether it be in the brain or the blood. There had to be a way to see if the pill was still in Tommy’s system. 

“Felicity-“ He barely got her name out before she was nodding and moving towards the door. 

“I’m on it,” she responded with authority, her heels clicking against the flooring as she practically sprinted to the door. “I’ll call Caitlin and see if we can get a rush on some test results and analysis after I draw some blood and samples.” 

Tommy turned back to Oliver, a slight look of hesitation on his face as Felicity left the room. “She’s a doctor? I thought she set up the club’s Wi-Fi?” 

Oliver was about to respond with a story of his own when he heard a soft chuckle from the other side of the room. Diggle had his head thrown back, but was biting back the laugh he wanted to have. 

“Felicity is …” Oliver paused while trying to think of the right words for his girlfriend. “Multitalented.” 

Tommy screwed up his face and took a step away from him. 

“Is that like a sexual thing? Because I may have been under the control of some super villain but I can still read body language, and I really don’t want to know about your sex life. No offense.” 

Diggle lost his war with himself and let out his laugh, a large grin on his face while Oliver joined him. 

“None taken.” 

It felt good to have Tommy back. Now they just needed to figure out what they were dealing with and how long they would be able to keep him as Tommy, instead of the Dark Archer.

~~~

_7 Days Later_

It had all moved too fast, Felicity thought to herself as the team scrambled for purchase out in the field. One minute they were patrolling, all of them patrolling together again, and the next, Ghosts were popping out from every corner. 

“Speedy, behind you!” Felicity yelled over the comm-link as she watched Thea get overtaken by two larger Ghosts. 

“Yelling like that probably doesn’t help.” 

Felicity directed a sour expression to Tommy who sat beside her. 

He held up his hands in surrender before Felicity turned back to the screen, just in time to see Laurel swing through to help Thea. 

“How do you do this every night?” Tommy asked, his voice quiet and unsure. 

For him, one of the biggest adjustments had been seeing how much development had occurred without him, especially with Laurel. He hadn’t lost time in the most conventional sense. He lost moments. Tommy remembered everything from the moment he woke up in a rather expensive hotel room off the coast of Greece, to the second he woke up in the lair. 

He remembered each life he took, each flash of panic they all experienced as he sunk an arrow into their chest. He remembered each order given by Damien Darhk, each command he received, which made him nothing, but a shell fighting to get out. 

It was all there, burned into his brain. 

He hadn’t lost those years, they were with him constantly, but he had lost those moments with his family and his friends. 

“It’s usually calmer.” 

Tommy let out a frustrated sigh beside her as they sat by and watched the team work. She felt for him, not just because he was carrying a burden within himself that none of them could fathom, or because he was seemingly a spectator as his entire circle of friends kept living their lives around him, without him. She felt for him because she knew he wanted to be out there with them, even though he assured them all he wanted to stay sidelined. 

Oliver and Diggle had been sparring with Tommy, to see what he was really capable of. Both men had been amazed at Tommy’s skill level and accuracy with an arrow. Tommy had laid both of them out flat in a matter of seconds the first couple times they sparred until Oliver began tracking Tommy’s fight patterns. 

After that, it hadn’t taken him long to figure out the weak spots in Tommy’s technique. Like the way he hesitated right before he threw a punch, or the quick blink of his eyes before he let an arrow loose. Tommy wasn’t a cold-blooded killer like Darhk had wanted. Deep inside he was still Tommy Merlyn, and Tommy Merlyn never wanted to become the person he was. 

“You know what helps Oliver focus when the team goes out into the field?” Felicity began but trailed off as she caught the look of tension in Tommy’s shoulders. “He usually lifts something heavy, or does some hyper complicated work out, or he just goes out there and does it himself.” 

“I’m not Oliver.” Tommy’s answer was short and succinct, his eyes not leaving the screen. “I didn’t want this life.” 

Felicity hesitated before continuing, “Oliver didn’t either. At least not at first.” 

Tommy finally turned at the sound of her low voice. She could see the war in his eyes, the desire to get involved in the action, but afraid to like it. She had seen it on each of their faces at least once. None of them chose this life, to mask up and fight to protect the city. At least they didn’t choose in the most conventional sense. 

Oliver never chose to become stranded on a not so deserted island and enter into five years of hell. Diggle never chose to lose his brother to H.I.V.E., Laurel never chose to lose her sister to the League first and death second. Thea never chose to lose her sense of self and life to forces beyond her control. 

None of them wanted it, but they accepted their new reality for what it was. 

Now it was Tommy’s turn. 

She watched, side eyeing the monitor as she did to make sure the team was OK, as Tommy heaved out one exhausted sigh. “I know Oliver didn’t want this but … he’s better at it.” 

“He’s had practice and help,” she pointed out as she multitasked her way through the pier’s horribly built security system. 

“He has, hadn’t he?” 

She heard the question, which sounded more like a statement as she watched Oliver shoot an arrow at the Ghost about to strike at Diggle. 

“You’ve helped him.” 

“Yes, I have.” Felicity smirked as she thought of all the conversations between the two, the inspirational pep talks, the firmly worded, heated discussions on his value. 

But, he had also helped her. Felicity wouldn’t have become this hero without the help of Oliver Queen. In a way, they balanced each other out and helped each other be the better versions of themselves. 

“He’s different with you. He’s better.” 

Felicity smiled as Tommy seemingly read her mind. She felt better with him too. 

“Thank you,” she murmured, sparing Tommy a long look of gratefulness. “He’s missed you. Without even knowing it, you helped him, too.” 

Tommy seemed taken aback and actually folded his arms over his chest in his seat. The idea of him helping Oliver must have felt so foreign to him in his current state. She knew from her talks with Oliver that Tommy was focusing on all the horrible things he had done and nothing that made him the man he used to be. 

He had even refused to be in the same room with Thea or Laurel unaccompanied. The guilt and the shame at his current actions had caused him to push away two of the people who would be great assets in his recovery. 

Maybe he was more like Oliver than he gave himself credit for. 

“I tried to kill him,” Tommy snorted. 

“Yeah, but who out of all of us hasn’t?” she joked, throwing him a wink, and secretly fist pumping when he laughed. “You can be a more permanent part of the team, if you want.” 

Felicity watched as Tommy’s laughter died down and he withdrew back into himself. 

“I don’t know if I’m a hero.” 

Felicity pursed her lips as she watched him turn back to the screen, watching the team round up a couple Ghosts, turning the tables on them. Deep down they all knew Damien Darhk wouldn’t be gone for long. They just hadn’t expected he would come back with such a vengeance, and with Tommy. 

“None of them did either,” she murmured in part to comfort him, and in part awe. They had all come so far. “We could get you a suit. Or a new suit, less threatening. We’ve got a guy on retainer, and I’m sure he’d be more than happy to throw in a new nickname, too.” 

She watched the slow, steady smile creep up once more as he left his eyes on the screen. It reminded her of the guy she met all those years ago when she was hooking up the Wi-Fi in the club, the guy Oliver loved as though they were brothers. It was Tommy. 

“You drive a hard bargain, Smoak.” His words were quiet, but amused. 

“I do my best,” she told him with pride. “Think about it. I think you could do some real good in this city. Be a hero.” 

If there was one thing the team should know by now, an important lesson for Tommy to know too, was that she was never wrong. 

“Hey, can you guys keep it down?” Oliver’s voice came over the speaker in the lair, causing both to start. “We’re all a little busy out here.” 

Felicity cringed and turned to Tommy with a semi-guilty expression. He only shook his head with a silent smile playing at his lips, holding back his muffled laughter. 

“Sorry honey,” Felicity told him through the comm-link, smirking at Tommy as she did. “Keep doing what you’re doing. Great job, team!” 

And they were. 

A team.


End file.
